Courses
Stanford PACS affiliated faculty and scholars teach courses and seminars for undergraduates, masters and Ph.D. students. Topics range from philanthropy and civil society to governance, policy, and more. Hands-on courses offer ways to translate ideas to action. To see when specific courses are offered, search the Stanford course directory here.
Stanford PACS’ flagship course is the year-long research workshop, intended for graduate students conducting research on the nature of civil society or philanthropy and advanced undergraduates doing research of writing senior honor theses on related topics.
PACS Course Highlight
Students from the Theories of Civil Society and the Nonprofit Sector.COMM 188A: Platforms, Inequality & Participatory Cultures (COMM 288A)
Instructors: Bhallamudi, I. (PI) ; Williams, J. (PI)
The rapid platformization of daily life has transformed the way we live, work, relax, and engage with each other, and has created new forms of inequalities around the world. Platform life has also led to intense anxieties about how we should live ethically, create community, and enact our political values in the face of increasing state and corporate power. In this course, we will apply interdisciplinary theories to explore these questions and examine the social, financial, environmental, technological, and philosophical impacts of digital platforms. Each of these “big questions” will be combined with a session on participatory platform cultures: how audiences gather on social media platforms, how communities resist and subvert platform power, and how creative forms of platform manipulation can yield innovative, even activist results. We encourage students to reflect on their own engagements with online fandom, community and popular culture, increasingly merging with forms of political and social identity and affiliation.
Read MoreEDUC 374/ POLISCI 334/ SOC 374 – Seminar on Philanthropy and Civil Society
Co-taught by Woody Powell and Aaron Horvath
Year-long workshop for doctoral students and advanced undergraduates writing senior theses on the nature of civil society or philanthropy. Focus...
Read MoreGSBGEN 367 – Problem Solving for Social Change
Taught by Paul Brest
GSB graduates will play important roles in solving many of today’s and tomorrow’s major societal problems—such as improving educational and...
Read MorePhilanthropy for Sustainable Development (POLISCI 236, POLISCI 236S, SUSTAIN 222)
Taught by Vera Michalchik and Micah McElroy
This course teaches students how to pursue social change through philanthropy with a focus on sustainable development. Students learn about...
Read MoreSOC 298: The Social Psychology of Contemporary American Politics (SOC 398)
Taught by Robb Willer, Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior
Where do individuals’ political attitudes and behaviors come from, and how can they be changed? In this class we will...
Read MoreSOC 375W: Workshop: Politics, Morality, and Hierarchy
Taught by Robb Willer, Professor of Sociology, Psychology, and Organizational Behavior
Advanced research workshop with a focus on new theory and research, recent publications, and current research by faculty and graduate...
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